A woman with a plan
by Eyghon
Summary: Post series finale. Katya is not happy about her sister's death, something that should have never happened. She's going to make things right again. She is a woman with a plan.
1. Prologue

A WOMAN WITH A PLAN Eyghon 

**Author's notes:** I didn't think I would write a post finale story, but I got an idea and followed it. Hope you enjoy. It will only a be a few chapters, posted within ten days I think. Post series finale, featuring Sydney, Katya and Irina. Everything is as it is in the show, the story starts right after the last episode. I wrote this in a few hours time and didn't have it beta read so all mistakes are mine and mine alone. Please review, let me know what you think.

**Summary:** Katya is not happy about her sister's death, something that should have never happened. She's going to make things right again. She is a woman with a plan.

Prologue 

Washington and London were still standing. They'd beaten the bad guys, again.

It had been two days since her mother's death. Two days of mourning the loss of her father, who died a hero, and her mother, who died a fanatic. Was it wrong of her to mourn a criminal? She didn't think it was, didn't care if it was.

In the span of a few hours, she'd killed a lifelong enemy and put an end to a world threat, namely, Rambaldi. It had cost her both her parents, but the world was now a better place for her daughter, for her newly reunited family.

Vaughn was absent, again. He'd been shipped off to Langley for an extensive debriefing and wouldn't be back for days. He had investigated a criminal agency for years without informing the CIA. Jack had then faked his death without anyone knowing. People, important people, were angry. They weren't going to make things easy for Michael Vaughn. Those big people wanted to know everything he knew about Prophet Five. Seven years of research to explain in detail to a committee of big, angry people. Sydney hoped her fiancé was okay.

She'd just taken her daughter to the paediatrician for a check up she'd scheduled before all the madness started. She thought of cancelling it but didn't really have anything better to do. Her bruised face had raised many eyebrows in the doctor's office. It was obvious she had difficulty moving around and her hands were heavily bandaged. She'd sustained nasty cuts from all the broken glass spilled around during her battle with her mother. She looked and felt like crap, although the painkillers she was on allowed her to stand on her own two feet.

Isabelle was safely nestled in her car seat, which Sydney clutched tightly in her hands as she crossed the street. Her car was parked in an alley a few hundred feet from the doctor's office. It was a sunny day in California, she thought about taking her baby girl to the beach later in the afternoon.

Isabelle was still being fussy over the shot she'd been given, and Sydney had wanted very badly to snap the poor doctor's neck when he had administered it.

She strapped the car seat into the back of her SUV and waved her fingers at Isabelle as she closed the door. Before she could get into her own seat, she felt strong arms wrap around her neck. She scratched and clawed, but couldn't get them off. She couldn't find a spot to hit behind her either and she was running out of time. Her attacker, a woman she thought, did not say a word, only squeezed tighter and tighter.

Sydney couldn't breathe, couldn't hear anything except her own heart beating. Bright, colourful lights danced before her eyes but she didn't find them pretty. She was scared like she'd never been before. Scared that she was being strangled to death, that she would never see her daughter again. Her last thought was for her little Isabelle, helpless, so vulnerable, strapped into her car seat on the other side of the glass.

She sagged against her attacker's body and lost consciousness, forever. Or so she dreaded.

TBC


	2. Chapter 1: Stubborness of a niece

A WOMAN WITH A PLAN Eyghon 

**Author's notes:** This story was no beta read. All mistakes are mine and mine alone. Please review, and I hope this story makes you feel better cause I was very disappointed by the crappy finale.

**Summary:** Katya is not happy about her sister's death, something that should have never happened. She's going to make things right again. She is a woman with a plan.

Chapter 1: Stubbornness of a niece 

She felt like she was suffocating under the hood, but the tape on her mouth prevented her from voicing her discomfort. Her hands were cuffed behind her back and someone was walking her down a long corridor. She felt like they'd been walking forever. There was only one person with her, from what she could tell. The same woman from before, she assumed. Sydney had no idea how long she'd been unconscious though.

She'd awaken in the backseat of a car, not hers, but a sedan, from the sound and shape of it. She'd tried to rise to a sitting position but whomever was driving had threatened to knock her unconscious again if she didn't lay back down. The voice was muffled because of the hood covering her head but she'd obeyed nonetheless. There had been no other words exchanged since.

She wished she could talk, ask about Isabelle, but her abductor wasn't in a hurry to free her. Finally she was pushed into a chair and the woman freed her hands from the handcuffs, only to tie them separately to the arms of the chair. Sydney yanked on her new bonds and felt plastic bite into her skin. She knew she was being watched but didn't care. The footsteps retreated and, after a while, she settled against the back of the chair and waited.

"Sydney."

The voice, coming out of nowhere, startled her, and she realised she'd dozed off.

"Good, you're awake." The hood was yanked off her head, leaving her blinking stupidly to try and clear her vision. Hundreds of thoughts popped in her head when she recognised who was standing in front of her. She knew why she was here now.

"I'm sorry for the way I brought you here. I know you must be angry, but you are going to listen to what I have to say. Are we clear?"

Sydney gave her the best Bristow glare she could manage despite her increasing worry but the woman remained impassive, waiting. More than anything, Sydney wanted answers. She didn't have time to act tough like an agent should when captured. She abandoned her façade and nodded. She tried not to flinch when Katya Derevko's hand came too close to her face for comfort.

"What did you do to my daughter?" Asked Sydney as soon as Katya ripped the tape from her mouth.

"She's safe," gruffly replied Katya. She almost sounded offended. "I may be many things but I wouldn't hurt a baby."

"I wouldn't put it past you," snapped Sydney.

Katya sighed, this was going to be harder than she'd expected. "Poor little girl, you think you know everything. I dropped Isabelle off at your friend's house hours ago."

"What friend? I don't believe you. I swear if you so much as…"

"Quiet." She dialled a number on her cell phone and put it to Sydney's ear without explanation.

"Hello?"

"Carrie? It's Sydney! Is Isabelle with you?"

"Oh my God, Marshall it's Sydney! Yes, yes, she's here…"

Sydney sighed in relief. Her aunt was telling the truth. "Is she alright?"

"Yes, she's perfectly fine. I heard the doorbell rang and when I opened the door, she was just there on the doorstep, in her car seat. I couldn't reach Vaughn so Marshall and I are keeping her with us. Are you okay? What happened?"

"I'm…I…" Katya gave her a warning look. "Could you put Isabelle on the phone please?"

"Yes, of course, here she is."

"Baby? It's mommy…" She smiled, recognising her daughter's gurgles and happy squeals. She was glad the baby hadn't been traumatised by her mother's abduction.

Katya, who'd been discreetly smiling at seeing Sydney chat with her daughter, motioned that it was time to hang up.

"Mommy has to go sweetie, but I'll be home soon, and behave for uncle Marshall and Aunt Carrie. Love you sweetie."

Katya put the phone away and gave Sydney a minute to compose herself.

"Thank you," Sydney said quietly, avoiding her aunt's eyes. Maybe the woman wasn't as evil as she wanted people to believe.

"I didn't hurt her, she never even cried. After you were out, I put you in the backseat right next to her. She seemed content to watch you sleep. I left your car at Mr Flinkman's house. You have a beautiful daughter Sydney, congratulations."

Sydney nodded but didn't offer an answer. "What do you want from me?" She had to ask, although if Katya knew about Irina, then this was about revenge, and probably pain.

Katya sighed. "There is so much I want to tell you."

She sat down in the chair she'd occupied before and sorted through her thoughts before starting. "I'm sorry about Nadia. The little time we spent together…I liked her very much."

Sydney felt newfound compassion for her aunt, who seemed sincerely saddened as she talked about her dead niece. "She liked you a lot too. And not just because you told her stuff about…Mom." Her voice caught in her throat and tears started burning her eyes. The mere mention of her deceased mother made her either cry or feel sick.

"Here." Katya gave her some water and straightened when Sydney had composed herself. Time to get down to business. "I know everything Sydney. I know what happened in Mongolia, and in Hong Kong. I know you killed my sister."

TBC


	3. Chapter 2: A mother's secret

A WOMAN WITH A PLAN Eyghon 

**Author's notes:** This story was not beta read. All mistakes are mine and mine alone. Please review, and I hope this story makes you feel better cause I was very disappointed by the crappy finale.

**Summary:** Katya is not happy about her sister's death, something that should have never happened. She's going to make things right again. She is a woman with a plan.

**Chapter 2: A mother's secret**

"So this is what it comes down to, you want revenge for a stupid accident?" Sydney clenched her jaw. "I did not kill her. Get your facts straight." Attack was a classic defence, but that's all Sydney could do not to crumble in a puddle of tears.

Sydney knew that despite everything, Katya Derevko loved her sister dearly, and would go through heaven and hell to avenge her. She took a second to wonder how Katya knew about Irina's death but had more urgent matters to worry about. Like, if she would live to tell the CIA they had a mole, again.

Irina's death was classified information. Only the agents on site that night and a handful of CIA higher ups knew about it. Her body had been retrieved by the team and was currently stored in a secret facility, along with Lauren Reed's body and many others. The CIA and NSA didn't want certain people's death to become 'public knowledge', from fear that it would tip the balance of the Intelligence world. Plus, since the discovery of the Helix technology, they were worried bodies could be 'accessed' to be cloned.

Katya chuckled humourlessly. "No. There was a time, I would have sought you out, gouged your eyes out, tortured you in the most gruesome way possible and killed you. And that is just for being there, even if you'd had no part in Irina's death, which is the case here. I know you didn't kill her, that no matter what you tell yourself, you are incapable of hurting another human being unless provoked."

"Why am I here, listening to your blabbering if you're all knowing aunt Katya?" Sarcasm felt good, yes it did.

"Irina was the all knowing one. Not me. I merely needed to know your feelings toward your mother, I wasn't sure how what happened in the last few months had affected you."

"So what, this is some kind of…test? This is all just a game to you? You dragged me here to psychoanalyse me? My mother is dead Katya, what more do you want me to say?" Sydney always had a hard time grasping the twisted motives and plans of the Derevko family. Today was no exception. She hated being manipulated. Filthy Derevko habit.

"This is no game, child. Funny you should mention psychoanalysis." She shook her head. "But first, Sydney, you must tell me, in detail, what happened that night in Hong Kong?"

"I must?" She had to bite her tongue to keep from asking what would happen if she didn't obey. She wasn't talking to her mother this time. She was not in Taipei now. There was no mother to defy anymore.

"I just…" Katya looked away nervously. "I…need to know if she suffered, if she saw it coming…I…this may seem a bit morbid I know, but…I just need to know. To get closure I suppose." Katya hated to show weakness, but she didn't have anyone to share her grief with, and Sydney was the closest she had to family. She wasn't expecting a hug, since the girl was still tied down to a chair, but she hoped whatever Sydney had to say would maybe, just maybe, help stop the questions in her head, the pain in her chest.

Sydney sighed, looking away in remembrance. She couldn't bear to look at her aunt as she recounted the fateful night that resulted in Irina's death. "I didn't mean for her to die you know. I came to Hong Kong to stop her from bombing London and Washington. To stop her from achieving the evil work of a lifetime. The usual. I never thought that at the end, she would…be gone." Her voice was shaking and close to inaudible but she didn't notice, she was in another place, in another time. Now, Hong Kong wasn't the city she'd woken up into after her missing two years. It was the city where her mother had died. Katya was lucky not to have the visual of her dead sister, while Sydney, would forever remember the sightless, empty eyes of her mother's corpse, fixed upon her.

"I kicked her and she fell on a glass roof. It started to crack but she could have come back to safety. She had time. I begged her to come back. "I never begged her to stop hurting me, but I begged her not to stay there and risk dying. I held out my hand to her, but she didn't take it, didn't listen. She only cared about the Horizon, not even about her own life." Bitterly, she added, "the glass cracked just as she grabbed the Horizon and she fell. She died when she hit the ground. The damn thing was still in her hand."

After a heavy silence that stretched on for several minutes, Katya finally looked back at Sydney, who'd be watching her expectantly.

"Thank you…for sharing this with me. I am glad she didn't die alone." Taking a deep breath, she put on a warm smile on her face and squeezed Sydney's hand. "There is one more issue we need to address. I am very, very proud of you for killing Arvin."

Sydney gave her a puzzled look but didn't have the chance to question her aunt as the woman continued talking, an odd look in her eyes.

"I'm just sorry it took your father dying to prompt you to kill the slimebag."

Sydney gasped, stung by the implication, but she herself was angry over her reluctance to just kill the bastard in cold blood and be done with it. "How dare you!" she still said. Katya had no right to talk to her like this.

"Sydney, you are not a killer, good for you, I don't blame you. And Jack was a bastard, don't get me wrong he was a good lover, but still an ass. I will miss him." She smiled, amused by Sydney's constant gaping. The girl had no clue she was trying to lighten the mood, for both their sakes. She wasn't particularly proud of jumping in the sack with Jack. "Here is the reason I brought you here, there is something you need to know about your mother."

"What could you possibly tell me that is so important? The woman is dead Katya."

Her aunt sighed and looked around her with a grimace. "This place is rather inadequate for this conversation. If I untie you, will you behave?"

"I'm not a puppy," snarled Sydney, a hint of murder in her eyes.

"Play nice little girl. Please. I don't want anything from you but your undivided attention."

"Fine." Sydney hated being treated like a child, or talked down to, and Katya had a knack for doing just that. From the day they'd met, Sydney knew the woman had a gift to get under her skin.

Katya made quick work of the plastic ties that bound her niece to the chair and took her arm to help her stand up. Sydney quickly shrugged her off.

"Follow me please." She smiled at her niece's reaction, so much like her mother. Irina would have slapped her for daring to consider her weakened. Katya led them upstairs, and Sydney discovered she'd been in the basement of an apartments complex in construction. She let her gaze linger on the gates in the lobby as they got to the ground floor. "Don't make me hurt you," she heard her aunt say. She smirked at Katya who was following a few steps behind and kept on climbing the stairs as directed by Katya.

Eventually, they entered a nice, furnished apartment on the third floor. "It's the model apartment. What do you think?"

Sydney shrugged, a little put out by the small talk. "Thinking of buying here?"

"Already did. I own this building. It's almost finished. I thought of giving Irina this apartment as a gift. So she could be closer to her girls. But this was in another life." Sydney detected an unmistakable note of regret in her voice and refrained from commenting. Instead, she took a seat on the beige sofa and waited for her aunt to join her. Katya choose a matching armchair.

She took a deep breath, bracing herself for the battle that was to come. There was the idiotic people, the assholes, the arrogant bastards, and the worst of the worst, the stubborn people. Sydney, Katya herself and the Derevko family in general all belonged in the last category. Jack belonged in the first three. She would truly miss him.

"What I'm about to tell you is the truth Sydney, the truth Irina tried desperately to hide for years. From me, from you…even from herself for the most part of her life. I need you to keep an open mind and not interrupt me until I'm finished. This is something Irina never wanted you, or anyone else, to find out. She made me swear on my life that I wouldn't try and contact you to seek your help. This…this is going to…rock your world." She said the words with obvious distaste, and, if it weren't for her precarious situation, Sydney would have smiled at hearing Katya use slang. Instead, she merely allowed herself a discreet raise of the brow.

Now she was more than intrigued though. She was worried even. She didn't like the tone of Katya's voice, didn't like her hesitancy at revealing her big bad secret. Even from the grave and indirectly, Irina still managed to make Sydney's toes curl up in her shoes.

"Irina was ill Sydney."

TBC


	4. Chapter 3: Illness of a great mind

**A WOMAN WITH A PLAN**

Eyghon

**Author's notes:** I have no idea what happened to Katya in the show, but in my story, she's out of jail. We're going to say that she somehow escaped, okay? This story was not beta read cause I was in too much of a hurry to post. All mistakes are mine and mine alone.

**Summary:** Katya is not happy about her sister's death, something that should have never happened. She's going to make things right again. She is a woman with a plan.

WARNING: I am no doctor, I don't pretend to know what I'm talking about, so please, keep an open mind and don't believe what follows to be true in the real world. I may have bent a few facts to suit my purpose.

Hey people from FF! You asked to nicely that here it is, the next chapter! Enjoy.

**Chapter 3: Illness of a great mind**

Sydney half expected to hear a 'dam dam dam dam' in the background, but there was none. She thought about her aunt's words for a second before releasing the breath she'd been holding. "I know. She was a lunatic." She chuckled, rolling her eyes at her aunt's flair for drama.

"No, she wasn't. I talk and you listen, remember?

Katya's condescending tone and the touchy subject ignited Sydney's anger immediately. "No, you are done talking. I am done listening. I will not sit there and listen to you make excuses for the woman who tried to murder me. You are not going to defend her, her beliefs or her actions to me. I don't need to hear that crap, she was a crazy fanatic who tried to kill her own daughter with her bare hands, just so she could gain more power!" She moved forward in the sofa, fully aware of the many guns and knives her aunt was probably carrying on her person. Now inches from her aunt's face, she said coldly, "you call that an illness? I call it blind faith. That woman has no excuses for what she did, none."

Katya was stunned at her niece's vehemence but quickly recovered and tried hard not to slap the girl silly. "Why do you have to be so damn stubborn? Everything is not always black and white Sydney, everything is never as it seems! You should know better than anyone by now!" Their voices rose, each feeling righteous anger toward one another. Their evening was going to be a roller coaster of emotions. Both had pent up rage, unfathomable sadness and a lot of frustration in them.

"She tried to kill Vaughn and tortured me! Then she beat me senseless and threw me around like a rag doll, hoping my skull would crack open. She wrapped a wire around my neck and squeezed the life out of me, never letting go no matter how hard I fought." She paused, the vivid memories playing out before her eyes. "You should have seen her Katya, it was like she didn't feel a thing. Her eyes Katya, her eyes were just so…demonic, and empty at the same time…I've never been so scared of her."

She sighed, averting her eyes to try and hide her tears. "She called me a 'complication in her life' and made it very clear she was going to kill me because I was in the way." Her devastation was pouring out of her eyes by way of rivers of hot, salty tears. More quietly, she continued her story. "I pushed her away from me. I just wanted her to stop, to tell me she loved me…and she did. That's what makes it so horrible, that's what makes me unable to not cry for her. She told me she loved me Katya, and then she still tried to push me off the rooftop. You know the rest."

She took a few minutes to compose herself, and regarded Katya with a defiant glare, although it was blurred by tears. "Tell me again how great a mother she was. Tell me she didn't mean it."

"She didn't mean it."

Her niece's tale was gut wrenching, and she believed every word that poured out of the girl's mouth, but she had to take a stand. For Irina. For her beloved, misunderstood sister. Because she, Katya Derevko, was partially responsible for her sister's demise. She would never forgive herself for not pushing Irina further, for not taking a stand against her. She took Sydney's hand in her own, and the girl let her. They both needed comfort, from anywhere and anybody they could get it. "I know it must have been terrible, I know Sydney, and I don't question what happened on that rooftop. What you saw in that woman, what you felt, what she did or said. You were right to defend yourself, that's not my point. I don't question your actions and I don't blame you. Just like I don't blame Irina." Sydney got an angry look in her eyes again but Katya raised her hands in surrender. "Please, please, listen to me. Listen."

Something in Katya caused Sydney to bite back on the retort she was about to make. Maybe it was the desperation in her eyes, the way her body seemed to fold over itself, or the tone of her voice, the pleading look in her eyes. That was just wrong. Katya Derevko didn't plead with people. She told people, ordered people, commanded people. She just didn't plead or beg or ask nicely.

Sydney had always seen her aunt in positions of power. When they'd met for the first time, Katya was wearing her SVR uniform, ordering soldiers around, shooting them and then daringly hitting on a guard. Sydney knew how deadly the woman was in the field. She wondered how things would have turned out if it were Katya that was sent to the US to spy on Jack. She shook her head until the disturbing idea left her mind and refocused on the few times she'd seen her aunt. Even when she'd visited her in the hospital and in jail, Katya always appeared in control, with that unique air of superiority of hers. But in that moment, Sydney didn't see that powerful woman who demanded attention and obedience. She saw a desperate woman and she took pity upon her.

"I won't interrupt you," she quietly agreed.

Katya was grateful. She settled sat back in her armchair and took a minute to put her thoughts in order. "After she first came back from the United States, Irina was very…withdrawn. She kept to herself, didn't talk, didn't smile…I used to think it was because of the loss of you and your father. That was until I found out she'd been extracted eighteen months before she returned to live with our family. They sent her to prison Sydney. Kashmir. I can't imagine what they did to her there."

Katya shifted in her seat. She kept glancing back and forth to Sydney, trying to gauge her reaction. "When she came back to us…that's when it all started. Rambaldi. She became The Man and found a purpose in life. She was so driven…it scared me sometimes. The hunt took priority over everything else in her life, including her family. I tried to make her come back to her senses but she reacted quite violently. She made it clear I should stop bothering her or be written out of her life. I didn't want to lose my sister. I let it go. I was selfish. That was a terrible, terrible mistake."

"So…she started to care about Rambaldi because…she was bored?"

"No. Because she'd lost her purpose in life, and needed a new one. One that she would never have to let go of," explained Katya, her voice filled with sadness.

Katya looked at Sydney hesitantly. "After Sovogda, I tried to get her to talk about it, but she refused and asked me to leave. She wasn't interested in bonding with me. I thought it would pass. I waited for her phone call for months. It never came.." She sighed, deep regret etched over her face.

"When I heard about Vaughn…I came to see her. I tried to get her to visit you, to offer her support…she said you weren't her concern and that she'd deal with you later. I knew there was something wrong with her then. She was moody, emotionally detached, sometimes she would simply ignore what went on around her. She'd go on Rambaldi related missions to God forsaken places, with no concern for her own life. She was ambivalent at best."

Sydney's forehead crinkled in confusion, trying to piece together the pieces of the puzzle that was her mother. "You're describing the woman I saw and fought in Hong Kong, the woman who helped me when Isabelle came. She was already…wrong then, wasn't she? She was mean to me but she was crying…why did she help me give birth to my daughter if her ultimate plan was to kill me? I was at my most vulnerable then, I even gave her a gun."

"I won't pretend to know the inner workings of Irina. But the most likely explanation I could think of was that, at that time, she believed you, both of you, may serve a greater purpose later. You were related to her so it was a safe assumption."

Sydney nodded in understanding. "She was kind to me at times, but mostly brusque and…cruel even. Why? What kind of sickness could make people act like that? Not care, thrive on other people's pain, behave at odds with themselves?"

"I wanted to take her to a psychiatrist but she refused…I was worried sick, I forced her to go. You don't want to know," she added when Sydney was about to ask how. "She eventually went willingly to see several other top notch specialists. Sydney, she was diagnosed with schizophrenia."

"What? How is that even possible?" Asked Sydney, expecting anything but…not that.

"It usually starts in the teenage years. Probably right after she entered the Academy, but there was no one she knew around to notice the changes. Then, there was the added pressure of being in enemy country, incarnating an alias fulltime…"

"That's crazy! She was a great Mom! She was normal!"

"I am not saying she was a bad mother. The symptoms back then were very minimal, she was basically fine. However, she took a critical turn when Yelena got her hands on her."

"But, I don't understand, she was fine when Nadia and I found her. A little shook up, but nothing you wouldn't expect." She tried not to choke on her dead sister's name, and sent a prayer of forgiveness for leaving Sloane alive for so long.

"No, she wasn't fine. Her time with Yelena affected her more than we thought. She was tortured for the better part of a year Sydney, left alone in tiny dark rooms or holes in the ground for weeks at a time with no food and very little water. She only had herself to talk to. She was, in a way, trapped in her own mind. Doctors think she went into shock several times during the course of her captivity. After everything that happened, Yelena, the Mueller device, Nadia…the shock eventually wore off and she started to act up. Sydney she suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. That's why she withdrew from me. It was already too late when I took her to the psychiatrist. She was too far gone. Her fragile mental state following her ordeal, PTSD…it was all too much for her. She suffered a severe crisis of schizophrenia…"

Sydney, horrified, shook her head in realisation that everything her aunt had said was really true. "Schizophrenia is often provoked by intensive stress…"

"Irina was prone to schizophrenia on our mother's side of the family. Our grandmother had it and so did our mother. Hell, for all we know, Yelena did too. I consult a psychiatrist every six months, and you should too. You're at risk as much as I am, as much as your mother was. I read the statistics Sydney. Twelve percent of children with one schizophrenic parent will develop symptoms. She changed Sydney. In the months between Sovogda and the incident on that ship she became colder, more distant, more driven. We weren't around so we just didn't notice it until it was too late for her. Split identity syndrome is part of schizophrenia. It's the worst affliction of the illness and it happened because she had no grounding points at a time in her life when she was vulnerable. She had nothing but Rambaldi because I listened to her and I left her alone to deal with her pain."

"What are you saying? She turned to Rambaldi AGAIN because she'd lost me and my dad AGAIN?"

"And Nadia, and Yelena, and herself. She lost herself Sydney. That's why."

"This can't be true, that's just not possible…Mom with a mental illness?" She knew it was true but she couldn't quite grasp what it meant and found the idea of her mother being mentally ill horrifying. She would worry about the risks to herself later.

"If you think back, you'll understand, you'll see. It was always there. She was high risk since she hit her teenage years because of the family's genetics, and her lifestyle only made it worse. Her captivity in Kashmir was the first phase. After her return, in two years time, she brutally left the role of loving mother to become a ruthless criminal organisation boss. Yelena's treatment of her is what drove her over the edge. According to the shrink we saw in Paris, it's a miracle she didn't succumb sooner. The illness made her…lose the part of her that made her human, to simply be a fulltime Rambaldi fanatic. Trust me Sydney, we consulted with five top notch specialists. From New York to Geneva, they all gave the same diagnosis."

"Jesus…so…that night, in Hong Kong…you're trying to tell me she wasn't herself? That…that…that it wasn't her fault?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

She wasn't buying it completely but she had to admit it explained why her mother was so at odds with the woman she remembered from not so long ago. "Isn't schizophrenia treatable?"

"To a degree, yes. It takes some time to find the right medicine and adjust the dosage, but it is treatable. Many people in the United States live with it everyday. They can have a normal life, have a family, hold a job…as long as they take their pills."

"Did she?"

"Yes. Once we found the right combination of drugs and dosages, she started to get better, more stable, more like herself. Sydney, you do understand, none of it was her fault. What happened in Hong Kong…she never meant to hurt you, it was the illness…" Sydney had told her as much a few minutes before, but Katya could tell she was questioning her judgement now.

"You said it yourself, she would have been fine if she'd taken her pills. None of this would have happened. But she choose to go off her meds, and became this crazed lunatic I met in Hong Kong. She's no innocent in this, she made the choice, it might as well have been the real her who tried to kill me."

Sydney didn't want to think about what would have happened if she'd known then, that her mother's behaviour might have been affected by a mental illness. Would it have changed anything? Would she have held back her kicks and punches? She would never confess it to anyone but when she'd understood her mother had been behind everything all along, Vaughn's 'murder', her own kidnapping and torture, she'd wanted to kill her.

She, Sydney Bristow, had felt death course through her veins, the call of blood resonate through her head. The thirst of revenge had almost consumed her, but she'd held back. Irina had inflicted the first strike. And so Sydney's anger had vanished, to be replaced by sorrow, for she knew her mother wouldn't spare her, that it would be a fight to the death. She put on a stony façade ià la Jack Bristow/I and tried to ignore her gut feeling. That this was wrong, that it wasn't supposed to be like that. She told herself it was okay, that she would never be able to go that far. To kill her own mother.

She'd always lied to herself where her mother was concerned. Sometimes she'd refuse to see the good in Irina, and sometimes she'd refuse to see how evil she was. Now she would never know the truth. She would never know if she could have been capable of killing her mother. She was glad she didn't know though. Glad Irina's cupidity had killed her. Glad it was an accident that took her mother away from her, and not her own anger. Not her own hands.

Katya shook her head; not in anger but in frustration. "After she started her treatment, we got closer, and suddenly, she started to get worse again. We didn't know why. One day, she was just gone. Then, a few weeks later, I heard you'd been kidnapped, and I knew. I just knew it had started again. Rambaldi."

"She had me…tortured for information, she watch the whole thing, althought I didn't know it was her. When I got home, she was there, waiting for me. We hugged, she looked so beautiful, and so happy for me, because of the baby…Dad and I…we let her in, we told her almost everything we knew, took her with us to recover the Horizon. That's what she was looking for when she had her doctor poke around in my head. And we served it to her on a silver platter."

"That's why she died, because of that Horizon, that's what you told me?"

Sydney nodded. "She teamed up with Sloane, gave it to him and took it back when he was dead."

"Sydney, I'm so sorry…" surprising them both, she went to sit by Sydney and wrapped her arms around her. "I don't know what provoked her last crisis, but she wanted to get better. She really did. She was afraid of what she'd become without proper treatment. The psychiatrist who took care of her after her diagnosis made it very clear bad things would happen if she went cold turkey. When she was a child, she suffered from our mother's condition, and she would have never inflicted the same thing upon you or me, or your father. More than anything, she was afraid she would hurt you in the name of Rambaldi. She would have never gone off her meds Sydney, never."

If there was ever a thing Katya was certain of, it was this, but Sydney didn't answer, prompting Katya to try a different approach. "She would have stopped Sydney, if she could have taken control, if it meant saving your life, she would have given up on Rambaldi in a heartbeat that night."

"But she didn't, even when she was fine. She could have before, many times, and she didn't!"

"I don't deny she has always been a fanatic, but not to the point of jeopardizing what she held dear, her family. Yes, she could have stopped before, but knowing all the answers was a way to protect you from the others like her. If she'd abandoned her quest, who knows what would have happened to you? Somebody else would have gotten their hands on the prophecies, and they would have come after you!"

Sydney blinked, her mouth working soundlessly. She'd never thought of it this way.

Katya felt she was gaining ground. "This illness took the worst in her and heightened it until it dominated her completely. It wasn't your mother in the driver seat that night, it wasn't her who beat you and tried to kill you. It wasn't her who had you tortured and later delivered your daughter. It was the Rambaldi fanatic she'd become so long ago to make up for the loss of her family. Our Irina was gone, had been for a long time."

Sydney let out an anguished cry that stopped Katya cold. She sounded like a wounded animal.

"Sydney?" Katya wasn't used to displaying emotions around people, and people usually reciprocated. She wasn't sure what to do, what to say?

Sydney wanted so bad to believe her aunt, to believe that in the end, Irina truly loved her and would have never attacked her so ruthlessly. But she'd be hurt so many times by her mother…there was no trust, no capacity to believe left in her. She couldn't help but try and find a loophole in everything she'd learned tonight.

"I want to believe you Katya, I really do, but…I've been deceived and betrayed so many times before…I can't take it anymore. My mother is dead. I made peace with that. A long time ago."

Katya was disappointed by her niece's reaction, and couldn't understand it. "You can't give up on her Sydney! I know you are angry, I understand, but it wasn't her Sydney. You have to know it wasn't her. Look at her medical files. It's all I ask of you. Please."

Sydney stood up and paced around. "I know it's the truth! I know she was ill! I believe you. But she's dead. What does it matter to you? Why did you go out of your way so I would know she didn't mean anything of what she said and did that night? Is it to make me feel guilty? Are you enjoying it"

Katya slapped her, hard. "Everything is not always about you. It matters to me because she was my sister, and I need to make you see the truth about her. I need you to know she loved you."

"I do. I do know she loved me, at some point in time. I do. And I loved her too. I worshipped her, and I'm not talking about when I was a child. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry she's dead and I can't make peace with her. So sorry…"

Katya nodded pensively. "Thank you," she whispered.

Sydney took a minute to compose herself. "Thank you. For going through the trouble of telling me the truth. I needed to hear it. It makes me feel better, to know that, maybe, she didn't mean all the things she said and did to me over the last few months."

"She would have loved to meet her granddaughter."

Sydney smiled and sighed. "Can I go now?"

Katya nodded and put her arm around her niece's shoulders. "I'll drive you back, we're just one hour outside of LA."

This time, Sydney rode in the passenger seat, free of bonds. Katya parked a few houses away from Marshall's.

"I guess I won't see you again, will I?" Asked Sydney.

"It's for the best. I'm still wanted in this country, and I know you don't really like me."

"I could have, under different circumstances. Do you think that maybe you could give me some way to contact you?"

Katya was slightly taken aback by the request but agreed readily. "Of course. Here." She gave her a business card with a single cell phone number written on the middle.

"Thanks. Even if we don't get along, it still feels good to know I have an aunt to count on, out there somewhere."

TBC


	5. Chapter 4: Theft

A WOMAN WITH A PLAN 

Eyghon

**Summary:** Katya is not happy about her sister's death, something that should have never happened. She's going to make things right again. She is a woman with a plan.

Chapter 4: Theft 

Sydney handed in her resignation within a week of coming back from Hong Kong. She completed all her paperwork and cleared her desk, more than happy to leave APO. Rachel also resigned and gone back home to her family who'd just been let out of the (spell out )-WPP. Both women promised to stay in touch and Rachel wanted her family to meet her new best friend. In fact, the 'soon-to-be-Vaughns' were invited over for Rachel's birthday the following month, along with the Flinkmans. 

For Sydney, it had been three weeks of blissful happiness with Vaughn and Isabelle. They were taking things easy, enjoying their daughter, planning the perfect wedding. It would be on the beach and the couple and the guests would be barefoot, just like they decided a lifetime ago. All their friends were invited but no family because, sadly, there was none left alive to invite. Vaughn's mother had died in a banal car accident shortly after his own 'death'.

"I'll get it," she said as the phone rang while Vaughn was on the patio playing with his daughter. "Hello?"

"Agent Bristow, we need you to come in."

She froze and glanced behind her to make sure she couldn't be overheard. "I am not an Agent anymore, I resigned. Please forget this number." She was about to hang up but what the woman said next chilled her.

"Alright, give me thirty minutes." She quietly put the phone back on its cradle and composed herself. "Honey, I need to go out for a few hours. I'll try and make it back by dinner." She grabbed her bag and her keys and was in her car before Vaughn could question her. She hated to hide things from him but didn't want to risk an argument. They'd both promised each other that, for their daughter's sake and their own, they would never again get involved with the CIA, for fear of being sucked back in, in Vaughn's words.

'This is in regards to Irina Derevko,' the woman on the phone had said. Sydney purposefully walked into the rotunda, not caring if she didn't look professional in her cream coloured summer dress. She had no intention of sticking around very long anyway.

"Agent Bristow." It was the woman from the phone, Vicki.

"Please refer to me as Miss Bristow. What happened?"

"Follow me." The woman led her to a conference room. "Sir, A…Miss Bristow has arrived." She quickly left without a word, leaving Sydney alone with none other that Kendall.

"Sydney," he greeted, holding out his hand.

"Kendall." She was stunned to see him here but did not comment. "What is going on?"

"Irina Derevko's body was stolen."

"Come again?"

"Last night at 0100, five heavily armed men wearing masks broke into the DSR facility where bodies are stored. They disabled the security and neutralised the guards in a matter of minutes."

"God!" Of all the things she'd expected, this wasn't one of them. Someone had profaned her mother's body!

"A professional job, clean, in and out under five minutes total."

"Any casualties?"

"None. They used tranqs. Any idea who would want your mother's body?" He asked, brows raised, as he gave her an appraising look.

"What you think I'm responsible for this?" She asked, outraged.

"It is a safe assumption, given that no CIA personnel was killed. A number of items are stored in that same building. Valued items. And yet the intruders only took the dead corpse of a terrorist?"

"No, I had nothing to do with." But I know who does, she thought. God I hope I'm not wrong. "Show some decency Kendall, she was still my mother."

"I called you here and talked to you in person, didn't I? I respect you, Agent Bristow, but my respect doesn't extend to family members, dead or otherwise."

Sydney glared at him. He was one of the higher ups who wasn't happy about what Vaughn, her father and herself had done to protect him. He was also part of the hearing board that had questioned Vaughn relentlessly for days in Langley. "What is being done to find…her?"

"We have no lead and we have other things to worry about. Nobody was hurt, it's not worth pursuing."

"I see. Well, thank you for contacting me, Director." He was right. He could have left her in the dark about the theft of her mother's body. After all, she wasn't an agent anymore, her clearance had been revoked. He must have gone through a lot of bureaucracy to be allowed to tell her about this.

She left and drove straight to the pier. There, feeling more relaxed, she dialled Katya's phone number.

"Hello?"

"Tell me it was you."

"Sydney. I thought you might call."

"So you did it?"

"Yes."

"Thank God!" She was relieved it wasn't some terrorist group who had her mother's body. However, anger quickly replaced her relief. "Why did you do that?"

"I left all your CIA friends alive as respect for you, that should be enough."

Sydney sighed. "I'm glad no one was killed, but you stole my mother's body, it's…what are you going to do with it?"

Katya smiled inwardly. She enjoyed toying with her niece, but in this case, this wasn't only about having fun. It was about hiding the truth without raising suspicions and her niece was one piece of work. She was not an easy girl to get rid of.

"What do you think it is for, silly? Your mother deserves better than to rot in a drawer in the enemy's basement!"

"You're right. I'm glad you have her, Katya. What are you going to do? What would she have wanted?"

Katya was angry over Sydney's willingness to let the CIA handle her mother's body while she should have done everything she could to get her to a proper resting place.

"To be with the rest of our family, in Russia. Like you did with that…disgusting clone."

"I had it taken care of as soon as I found out. There is no trace of an Irina Derevko ever being cremated."

"I know. I was glad." Katya said.

"You should have told me what you were doing."

"I wasn't sure you would approve."

"I would have helped." Sydney snapped.

"I know that now. Goodbye, Sydney."

"Goodbye, Aunt Katya."

Sydney couldn't see the soft smile displayed on the other woman's lips. Being called 'aunt' was heart warming. She'd felt a twinge of guilt as she'd lied to Sydney about her motives for stealing Irina's body, but it was for the best. For now, she would keep her plan to herself and pray to every God she knew but didn't believe in that it would work.

She stepped out of the car. They'd just arrived at the airstrip. The hearse was not passenger-friendly but she didn't care. She refused to let her sister's body out of her sight. The driver and the man sitting beside her in the front seat were both dressed in dark suits. Katya nodded to them and they deftly manoeuvred the heavy wooden casket through the tiny gate before setting it into the back cabin of the plane, out of sight. The CIA had graciously furnished Irina with a body bag, but it was Katya who had it put into a casket.

"Hello Miss Derevko," greeted the pilot, giving her a charming smile. She was used to flying with him, in every sense of the word, but it wasn't going to happen tonight. She distractedly nodded at him and tiredly lowered herself into a seat.

"I need to know where we are going, if you want to leave rapidly, Ma'am."

She'd been distracted, thinking of what she would have to do very soon, and of the consequences of her actions. "Huh? Oh, yes, of course. We will be landing at Ulaanbaatar Airport, Christopher."

"Yes Ma'am." He closed the cockpit door behind him and immediately contacted the Control Tower through his radio.

"Control Tower this is flight NY-24858, requests permission to take off."

"Flight NY-24858 this is Control, it's the middle of night, where you headed buddy?" It was a small, private airstrip, and Christopher often travelled here. His boss found it more discreet than LAX. His orders were always to stay nearby in case Katya Derevko needed to take off in a hurry. He was actually forbidden from leaving the airstrip so he usually hangs out with whoever was on duty. He'd quickly become friends with Mike, the night shift controller.

"Mongolia."

TBC


	6. Chapter 5: The cave

A WOMAN WITH A PLAN Eyghon 

**Author's notes:** FYI, I'm French, so I speak English as a second language, hence the little mistakes here and there. This chapter was beta read by Lenafan, and the next one will be too. Enjoy and review please!

**Summary:** Katya is not happy about her sister's death, something that should have never happened. She's going to make things right again. She is a woman with a plan.

**Chapter 5: The cave**

After Sydney hung up with her aunt, she stayed in her car for several minutes, just staring at the water below her. There was something wrong with Katya's explanations. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she just knew the woman was lying. Quickly making up her mind, she dialled Marshall's number. He was back on the CIA's payroll with his wife's benediction on the condition that he sign a contract stipulating that he not be, under any circumstances, sent in the field.

He didn't ask any questions when Sydney told him to check the local airstrips to see if any private jets had taken off in the last few hours. There were many. She asked him to compare his results to the list of planes that had taken off on the day of her abduction. She assumed Katya wouldn't have stayed in Los Angeles in between visiting Sydney and stealing Irina's body. Marshall found a match but couldn't get any information on the flight's destination. Sydney thanked him and drove to the indicated airfield, praying that the controller on duty the previous night would be able to help her.

It was a lot of work based on a simple hunch but she rather liked the thrill of investigating, even if it turned out to be nothing. If her aunt's plane was headed to Russia, then it meant she was wrong and she would leave it at that. If not, she didn't know what she'd do yet.

The day shift controller was kind enough to give her his colleague's number after she waved her CIA badge in his face. It was the only thing she hadn't turned in after her resignation. She'd pretended to have lost it. The supply manager had glared at her but just said it was very common among retiring CIA agents to lose their badge. Now her little white lie proved quite useful. The night controller told her the pilot was a buddy of his who never left the airstrip after flying in his big shot boss. Sydney couldn't contain a gasp of shock when he told her the plane was headed for Mongolia.

After a long and tiring flight, Sydney easily found her way back to the cave where she'd killed Sloane. She was surprised to see it wasn't guarded, and that in fact, there was only one other jeep there beside her own.

At the entrance, she took a deep breath and checked her gun and her FLASHLIGHT before heading toward the chamber she knew to contain Sloane's remains and the altar of Rambaldi.

She was worried about what she might find down there. When the Medivac had arrived for her father, they couldn't find his body and told her rocks blocked the entrance of the cave. The agent in charge of the investigation strongly suspected that Jack had somehow gotten back in and blown up the place to keep anyone else from finding it.

She turned off her flashlight as she approached the foot of the stairs. There were a lot of rocks of all sizes piled up here and there. The room looked nothing like when she'd left it, half-carrying, half dragging her dying father with her. Someone cleaned up after the CIA medivac had left the area. Now someone else down there. Someone with the resources to remove thousands of pounds of rocks from a tiny cave no one was supposed to know about.

"Katya?" She asked as she made her way into the room. Her eyes riveted on the coffin that her aunt was kneeling by. She'd expected to see the woman, but not the coffin.

Her aunt jumped to her feet, startled.

"Sydney," she said, surprised. Spotting the girl's gun, she quickly cocked her own in Sydney's face, angry that she was going to try and ruin her efforts to bring Irina back to life.

"Wow," protested Sydney, taking a step backward. She didn't expect that kind of welcome, but then again, coming from Katya, she should have known better.

"You shouldn't have come here, why do you always have to put your nose where it doesn't belong?" Asked Katya tensely. She did not want to hurt her niece, but the girl was proving to be quite a nuisance. She discreetly looked toward the stairs leading to the room but couldn't see if Sydney had brought someone else with her. "Put your gun down. Put it down!" She ordered, louder, as Sydney remained unmoving.

"What…what are you doing?" Sydney asked, unable to take her eyes off the coffin after she'd kicked her gun over to Katya. She still held the flashlight and she had a spare gun at her ankle. The only problem was, the room didn't offer any cover and she risked tripping over rocks if she moved. She was a sitting duck and wouldn't have a chance to draw her gun before Katya shot her.

"Turn around!"

"If you're going to shoot me…" started Sydney.

"Don't be ridiculous. Now turn around."

"That's not necessary," Sydney complained while facing the wall. She didn't flinch when Katya RELIEVED her of her spare gun and her knife, but did sigh in relief when the woman didn't find her spare knife. It would offer very little protection against a gun in this crammed space but it was still something.

"Are you alone?"

"Yeah," Sydney confessed after a few seconds of hesitation.

"Good." Katya seemed to relax and Sydney felt comfortable enough to take the first step in this standoff. "Look, I just came here to find out why you lied to me." Sighing, she turned her attention to the coffin again, as if hypnotized. "Is that…her?"

"Yes. It's Rishka."

"Why did you bring her here?"

"To fix a mistake."

"A mistake?"

"Irina shouldn't have died Sydney. She did nothing wrong, she was sick.

"I don't deny that, but…what are you trying to do?"

"I'm correcting a wrong, I'm bringing my sister back to life."

"What? My God, Katya, you're insane!"

"I am not. I'm reluctant to kill you but I won't let you try to stop me. There's nothing you can do, do you understand little girl?" There was a hint of warning in her voice.

Sydney was baffled, but she believed her and decided to stand down, for her own safety. Let her aunt be crazy, as long as she wasn't harming anyone.

"Where's Sloane?" Sydney suddenly asked, looking around her. There were smears of blood on the ground but no hint of a corpse. He should have been in the rectangular pool of blood where she'd left him. The explosion would have still left a few bits and pieces behind.

"Arvin made a mistake, Sydney. He thought the Horizon would give him immortality, eternal life. He was wrong."

Sydney gaped at her, trying to grasp everything her aunt was unleashing on her. As far as APO knew, Sloane had correctly interpreted everything Rambaldi had said on the back of Page 47. "What are you saying?"

"This doesn't keep people from dying," she said, again eyeing the pool of blood. "It revives them, it regenerates the body of a dead person, makes it alive again."

"My God…Sloane…"

"Probably woke up after you left his bullet-ridden body in that very pool. After that, I don't know."

"Dad blew up the place," Sydney said pensively, putting the pieces together.

Katya let out a short laugh. "Arvin must have been really disappointed. The fool thought he was immortal. My men found a few pieces of flesh on some of those rocks." She nodded toward the huge chunks of rock surrounding them.

"Dad…" Sydney shook her head, nauseated.

"I'm sorry," Katya said sincerely, feeling a twinge of compassion for her niece.

"What…" She cleared her throat. "What are you going to do now?"

"Revive her."

"How does it work?" Sydney asked after a long minute of silence. She didn't know what she was doing or saying, she was just acting on autopilot, not caring about the consequences.

"Will you help me?" Katya was suspicious, to say the least, but she'd seen the change in Sydney's attitude, and wanted to believe someone else who cared for Irina was willing to do this with her, to share the responsibility. It made things easier. She'd hesitated a long time before acting on her plan and ordering the cave cleared, and then stealing her sister's body. For days, she'd wondered if it was what Irina would have wanted. She'd struggled with the decision and still did.

"Tell me what to do." Sydney nodded firmly, jaw set, shoulders square. There was a new fire in her eyes.

Katya tucked her gun away and slowly ran her hands over the lid of the coffin. She pulled it open, as Sydney got closer. Without talking, they each took an end of the body bag and gently lowered it to the floor. Sydney gulped. She knew what the next step would be. Thankfully, her aunt took charge and, with unsteady hands, slowly lowered the zipper.

"She's…" gurgled Sydney, suddenly feeling light headed.

"They did an autopsy on her," realised Katya, spotting the ugly Y shaped scar at the same time Sydney did.

They were both kneeling beside the corpse of Irina, who was still mostly hidden by the sides of the body bag. Neither dared to move, shocked at seeing HER for the first time since…

With tears in her eyes, Katya eventually moved the sides apart, exposing Irina fully. She put her hands beneath the woman's shoulder blades and waited for Sydney to snap out of her trance and take her mother's ankles. Trying to ignore the feel of her mother's naked body between her hands, Sydney helped her aunt lower Irina into the pool of blood and abruptly pulled back.

"Now what?" Her voice was barely a murmur but Katya heard her in the deadly silence of the cave.

"We wait." Katya's answer was quiet and she went to Sydney's side and pulled her down with her.

They couldn't bear to look at Irina so they concentrated on the ground instead. Katya didn't know how long they sat there, didn't know why she wrapped her arm around Sydney's shoulder, or why she let her niece do the same with her. They didn't care really. Nothing mattered. Only SHE did.

Neither Sydney nor Katya noticed the water shimmer.

TBC


	7. Chapter 6: Running scared

A WOMAN WITH A PLAN Eyghon 

**Author's notes:** Sorry for the delay but this is really bad timing. I'm right in the middle of my final exams and, being a 'soccer' fan, I'm following as many World Cup games as I can.

**Summary:** Katya is not happy about her sister's death, something that should have never happened. She's going to make things right again. She is a woman with a plan.

Chapter 6: Running scared 

The more time passed, the more scared Sydney got. What was she supposed to tell Irina if it worked? What if she came back wrong, sick? Would it start all over again then, and would Irina succeed in killing her this time? She knew her fear was partly irrational, but she couldn't quiet the panic that seized her and she brusquely detached herself from Katya.

"I can't do this." She briskly walked toward the stairs while being careful not to glance behind her at the pool in which her mother lay.

"What?" Katya asked, surprised and a little hurt. They'd lapsed into a comfortable silence ten minutes ago and she'd never felt closer to her niece. Or anyone else beside Irina.

"I'm sorry."

Sydney rushed out of the cave, almost tripping on her way up. Katya thought of going after her but stopped herself. Frowning to try and identify the source of her discomfort, she spun around as the feeling of being watched asserted itself. Irina's eyes were opened! Unfocussed, blinking, but very much open! Katya hesitantly made her way to the back of the room as to not startle Irina who seemed very much confused.

"Irina?" Her voice was barely a whisper, and Irina didn't seem to hear her. She was looking around her wildly, and made a gurgled sound when she finally spotted Katya. Her breathing was laboured and her eyes kept bouncing around. What worried Katya was that Irina wasn't moving. At all. She hoped it was simply the way the processus of regeneration worked, by focussing on vital functions first and muscles later or something of the sort. Oddly enough, the ugly little scars from Irina's fall seemed to be fading from her face and the rest of her body already.

Katya wondered if she should get her sister out of the pool or leave her in there until she could talk and move. Assessing there was no risk for Irina to drown, she hurried up to the surface to get supplies from her car. Upon her return, she immediately regretted leaving her sister alone. Irina appeared even more frantic than before.

Inwardly cursing Sydney for leaving, she weighed her options and decided Irina seemed to have improved in the few minutes it took her to bring back blankets, food and water. Her fingers were twitching. She wasn't expecting Irina to get up and give her a hug since she'd been dead for three weeks. She imagined it would be like waking up from a coma, with muscle weakness, difficulty to speak from throat disuse and so on.

"Let's get you out of here okay?" She had no clue if Irina was even hearing her and gave her what she hoped was a kind and reassuring smile.

Irina had always been the fanatic one while Katya was only mildly interested. But now, seeing her sister alive, when she'd been dead only twenty minutes earlier, Katya couldn't help but bless Rambaldi for the gift he'd given her.

She managed to lift Irina out of the pool and to wrap her in the blanket to keep the cold of the room from her sister's drenched, naked body. Her sister wasn't being much help but Katya wanted to take her to a doctor ASAP.

It had been several days since Sydney had walked out on her aunt and mother, without knowing the outcome of Katya's plan. She hoped her mother was alive but at the same time, she didn't want to burden herself with knowing. It was the middle of the night when she was awoken by the ring of her cell phone. Vaughn groaned and shifted in the bed. She picked up.

"Hello?" The caller ID indicated 'unknown caller' but she expected that call to come sooner or later. As expected, it was Katya.

"I need to see you. Now."

Sydney sighed. "I can't come. I'm sorry I left you hanging but I made a mistake, which I regret. Now I just want you to leave me alone, please."

"I can't do that Sydney. I am outside of your house. If you don't come out, I will come in."

The implied threat gave her pause, and she avoided Vaughn's questioning look. Her relationship with Katya was shifty, at best, it seemed. The both of them could go from hugs to threats in a blink. She thought they'd reached a new level of their relationship in the cave, but her hurried exit had apparently ruined that and they were back to square one.

"Give me five minutes," she replied dryly, unhappy about the fact she had to obey Katya and lie to Vaughn, again.

"You have two minutes."

She hang up and Sydney hurriedly put some clothes on and tucked a gun in her waistband.

"Syd what's going on?" Asked Vaughn, suddenly very much awake at seeing her jump in her clothes in the middle of the night and pack a gun.

"I have to go out for a little while, I can't explain. I love you." She gave him a peck on the lips and was out of the room, grabbing her coat to protect her from the heavy rain. She heard him follow her to the hall and quickly threw the door open and took the steps two at a time. She got in the passenger seat of a dark blue Mercedes parked next to her mailbox and slammed the door before Vaughn could see the driver.

"Go!" She ordered her aunt who spared a glimpse at a bewildered boxer clad Vaughn before stepping on the gas. She discreetly glanced in the backseat, worried that 'she' might be here.

"Everything okay with your Agent Vaughn?" Katya couldn't help but ask despite her anger toward Sydney for what had happened in the cave.

"What do you want from me now?" Asked Sydney with lassitude, decidedly not in the mood for small talk.

"Aren't you going to ask?"

"Ask what?" Sydney was playing dumb and they both knew it but Katya indulged her anyway. After all, she was the one who needed Sydney's help, not the other way around, so it was in her interest to play nice.

"After you left…she woke up. It worked Sydney. Your mother is alive."

Sydney inhaled sharply, biting her lips to keep from crying out. A few tears escaped her eyes though, but she couldn't pinpoint exactly what she was feeling. It was a mix of happiness, relief, and fear, uncertainty really, just like in the cave.

"Why…" she cleared her throat. "Why am I here, why are you telling me this?"

"Because Irina needs your help."

"I want nothing to do with her," Sydney snapped immediately.

"She's your mother!" Katya's voice rose substantially.

"I retired from the CIA to get away from people like her because I'm a mother now. I have a family to think of, and I'm happy. Why can't you people just leave me be!"

Her aunt brusquely pulled over to the side of the road.

"So this is your excuse? You just give up? Take the easy way out? Listen to me!" She forced Sydney to face her. There was desperation in her eyes. "She was captured by Yelena because of you! Because she was looking for you, worried sick, when you were just playing double agent again. You are as much responsible for her condition as Yelena is."

Sydney swallowed hard and was quiet for a moment, taking it all in.

"You owe her," insisted Katya, sensing she was gaining ground.

"I can't…I can't deal with her Katya." She shook her head as tears escaped her eyes.

"She needs your help Sydney!" Katya was adamant about that particular fact, Sydney wondered what exactly 'help' would entail.

"You're her sister, you help her!"

"I tried, but she doesn't want my help. She wants nothing to do with me."

"What are you talking about?" Sydney was confused, she thought her mother would have picked up her life where she'd left it but she'd apparently been wrong.

"She was confused at first, it took her some time to adjust. She fell Sydney, she knew she was going to die, and when she woke up, she knew she had died."

"My God! She…remembers dying?"

"She does. She remembers everything that happened before that too. How she got sick, and changed. She was mostly very angry at me for bringing her back. And then, it got worse."

"Worse?" Sydney gulped at the idea of her mother coming after her again.

"Not in the way you think. She wouldn't tell me anything but I felt it. She was afraid Sydney."

"Afraid of what?"

"Of what she'd become, of what had happened between you two in Hong Kong. The little she told me…she was so…horrified, disgusted by her behaviour. She wasn't making much sense, but she did mention something about a boat and torture?" Katya had hoped Sydney could enlighten her about that particular fact. The woman was determined to reconcile Irina with her daughter so the most she knew, the better she'd be able to convince them both that it was okay to take a step forward and not be scared of one another.

Sydney shifted in her seat uncomfortably. "What do you want me to say? You brought a lunatic back to life. At least for now she knows just how evil she is, but whatever she does next is on you."

"Don't call your mother names Sydney. She started on new medication as soon as we got back to Russia. She's mentally stable and healthy according to her physician. At least on the schizophrenia side of things. Her new treatment is working, that's why I didn't bother going after her."

"Going after…what are you talking about? You let her go?"

"She wasn't my prisoner Sydney. She wanted to be alone, she left." Sydney shook her head, bewildered at Katya's nonchalance. "She's in a remote village of Africa called Chawolo."

Sydney gave her a strange look. "Why are you telling me this?"

Katya shrugged. "I just thought you should know."

Sydney nodded slowly in unspoken acceptance. "You could have told me all this over the phone."

"I could have," replied Katya enigmatically before putting the car in gear and made a u-turn in the deserted street. "Maybe I wanted to see you." She gave Sydney a mischievous smile.

Her niece chuckled. "Maybe someday we could see each other just to get a drink and talk."

"I would love that." Katya had a warm smile on her face, and, embolden by Sydney's expression, asked, "how's Isabelle? Still keeping you up?"

Sydney smiled brightly, feeling more comfortable with her aunt than she had since she'd met her. "Yeah, but now Vaughn's here so we take turns. I just hope the day she'll sleep a full night is near!"

"Good luck with that! Your mother didn't until she was XXX months old (I DON T KNOW ABOUT THOSE THINGS), and I remember her telling me you were the same."

"Really?"

Katya nodded and slowed the car to a stop in front of Sydney's house. The living room lights were on. Sydney sighed, Vaughn was probably up, waiting for her, and he would demand explanations. She exited the car without a word and slowly made her way to the door. She turned around to give an hesitant wave in the direction of the car and entered her apartment just as Vaughn was about to open the door.

"Syd! Where were you? What the hell is going on with you?" He asked, angry and worried. He knew she'd been lying to him, but it hadn't felt right to question her when he'd lied to her for years. But now the time for waiting was over, he was too worried about her to keep playing nice.

Sydney sighed. She knew she couldn't tell him about her mother. He would hate her for what she'd done, and try and discourage her from doing what she ws about to do.

"Vaughn, I'm going to need you to trust me. It will all be over soon but I can't tell you what it is."

"What do you mean? God Sydney what are you doing?"

"I can't explain Vaughn, please, just give me time. I won't be there when you wake up tomorrow."

"What?" He asked, eyes bulging out of his head.

"I'm going to Nigeria, it could take a few days but I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Syd, no, I can't let you do that!"

"Let me? You can't let me?" She asked, eyes blazing.

He immediately knew he'd made a mistake by implying that he had a say in her decisions, but he was not backing out. "You have a family now Syd, a daughter who needs her mother. Your decisions don't affect only you anymore, but all three of us."

"I realise that, but this is something I need to do!" She ran her hand up and down his arm to try and calm him down. More softly, she added, "I'm not doing anything dangerous Vaughn, I promise you." She was lying but it was too important for her.

"Okay," he said softly, adding to her guilt. "Goodnight then. I love you." He kissed her on the lips and went into their room.

Sydney sighed and took a seat in the rocking chair by Isabelle's crib. She watched her daughter sleep until the sun rose. She went into her room and quietly packed comfortable clothes with a few bottles of water and other first necessities. What lay ahead of her was no picnic, Chawolo wasn't exactly a capital or a tourist city. To her chagrin, she couldn't bring a gun or even a knife with her since she was flying commercial. For once, she took her own passport with her. Sydney Bristow was going to Nigeria.

TBC


	8. Chapter 7: Lost

A WOMAN WITH A PLAN Eyghon 

**Author's notes:** Gosh it's been such a long time! I'm really sorry, I've been busy, but I'm free now and we're getting closer to the end.

**Summary:** Katya is not happy about her sister's death, something that should have never happened. She's going to make things right again. She is a woman with a plan.

Chapter 7: Lost 

Sydney left her 4x4 at the entrance of the village known as 'Chawolo' and waved a couple of kids over. One of them ran the other way, probably scared of strangers. She smiled at the four boys in front of her and gave each of them a candy bar before showing them a picture of her mother. She didn't speak the local language, but they hesitantly pointed toward the centre of the village where two dozens or so people were building something.

Sydney thanked them with another smile, this one more forced. She'd flown thousands of miles to find Irina and now that they were only a few meters away, she dreaded seeing her. She tried not to think about it on the way over. She didn't have a plan or any idea of what she would do once she was face to face with Irina. What worried her most was her mother's reaction to her. Katya had sworn Irina was on a new treatment and that she was doing fine when she left. It did nothing to alleviate Sydney's fears and she promised herself to be extra cautious around her mother. The fact remained she was going in blind and unarmed.

Finally, Sydney spotted her. She paused, pondering her choices. She could still walk away and forget about her mother being alive but at the same time, she couldn't. She wanted to see her mother and talk to her. Not trusting her voice, she calmly came around Irina until she was face to face with her.

"Sydney!" The woman gasped in surprise, unable to take her eyes off her daughter.

"Hi." Her voice was a whisper, but she couldn't keep a small smile from forming on her lips.

"What…" Realising everybody was staring at them, Irina motioned for Sydney to follow her.

"Are…are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. You?" Sydney said.

"Good, fine, okay."

Sydney was surprised by Irina's attitude, which seemed almost shy. "The new meds are working for you? No nasty side effects?"

"What…how…"

"Katya told me everything that's happened and where to find you."

"She had no right."

"She was trying to help. I'm glad she went to all that trouble to get me to listen to what she had to say."

"Did she hurt you?" Irina asked worriedly, knowing how 'devoted' Katya could be.

"Just scared the crap out of me."

"I'll talk to her, she won't bother you again."

"No it's fine, we came to an understanding of sorts."

"I'm glad you two are getting closer." Irina had a warm smile on her face, one that comforted Sydney in the idea her mother was fine, or at least, back to normal. Irina started to walk way, but Sydney called out to her.

"Mom! I didn't come here to tell you I put Katya on my Christmas list."

"What do you want from me, Sydney?

Sydney sighed. "I don't know. I got all the explanations I didn't want to hear from Katya."

"So why are you here?"

"Katya said you bailed."

"You were worried I had relapsed and would come after you." Irina nodded pensively.

"No! No that's not it…"

"It's okay, I understand." She sighed. "Sydney, I can't say how sorry I am for what I did to you…"

"You don't need to apologize, Mom. I know now it wasn't your fault."

"But it was! I should have…checked myself into an institution as soon as I found out about my illness. None of this would have happened if I'd assumed my responsibilities."

"That's bulls!" Irina gave her a surprised look. "Thousands of people live with that illness everyday and they don't go nuts."

"But I did. I had predispositions and I snapped. I allied myself with Prophet 5. The things I did to you…" She trailed off, tears in her eyes. "Vaughn…"

"He's just fine. Katya didn't tell you?"

"No…I don't understand…"

"Remember Hong Kong, the roof?"

"Yes." Irina's answer was crisp and the pain in her eyes was unmistakable.

"I told you I wasn't alone."

"Vaughn…"

"Was kicking Sark's ass to convince him to give up the codes to the satellites while we were fighting."

"But…in your apartment, you said he was killed…"

"What can I say, I can lie my ass off too."

Irina chuckled, relieved to learn she hadn't killed her daughter's fiancé. "I'm glad you lied to me. But that doesn't excuse what I did."

"You're right, it doesn't. You are going to have to work to get my forgiveness. The question is, are you willing to even try or are you going to stay here and hide like a coward?"

"Sydney!" To say that Irina was shocked was an understatement. She knew Sydney was baiting her though. "I am trying to protect you."

"From what? Prophet 5 is gone, I'm out of the business…"

"From me."

"Your new meds are working. You look fine to me."

"I looked fine too when you got back to your apartment and I was there waiting for you. You didn't suspect a thing, I could have killed you right there."

The innuendo chilled her but she bit back nonetheless. "Schizophrenic people don't just go off on a rampage unless they're off their meds. Are you telling me you stopped taking your pills on purpose, knowing what you were capable of?"

"No! God no! Never! I would never endanger you, Sydney."

"Then what happened? Why blame yourself? Did you even wonder why you relapsed?"

"I…no, I just…I didn't know what I was doing. I was diagnosed shortly after coming back from Sovogda. I made it a few weeks and then…Prophet 5 approached me, Vaughn was becoming a nuisance. I don't know exactly what happened, or how and when it happened, Sydney."

"Mom, those meds you took, they don't just stop working. What if something was wrong with your pills? Did you have them checked?"

"No…I had no reason to…when I started my treatment, I was on a neuroleptic called Ziproxa. It made me drowsy sometimes, but my doctor assured me I would experience side effects from any other medication, so I kept taking the Ziproxa, but after a while, it stopped. I never felt drowsy anymore. I just assumed I'd gotten used to the treatment, but now I'm starting to question that."

"Could someone have messed with your pills?"

"Why would somebody want to do that?"

"Just…is it possible?"

"Well, I got my refills from a pharmacy close to my apartment in Moscow. I've known the owner for years…"

"Everybody can be bought, Mom. What if someone replaced your pills with a placebo so you would get back to the business of Rambaldi?"

"That's ridiculous."

"I don't think so. I think it's worth checking into."

"Well…I'll give you the name of the pharmacy, if you feel it's something you have to do.."

"No. We're going together, and we should look for your old pills, if you still have them."

"Sydney, I'm sorry, but I won't go on a wild goose chase with you. I'm staying here."

"No you aren't. This isn't up for discussion. You're going, period. My car is over there, pack your stuff, I'll be waiting for you." She retraced her steps back to her car, all the while keeping her fingers crossed that her little speech would have its effect on Irina.

Five minutes later, her mother was in the passenger seat, a backpack containing the few clothe she'd brought with her.

TBC


	9. Chapter 8: Mystery solved

A WOMAN WITH A PLAN Eyghon 

**Author's notes:** Gosh it's been such a long time! I'm really sorry, I've been busy, but I'm free now and we're getting closer to the end.

**Summary:** Katya is not happy about her sister's death, something that should have never happened. She's going to make things right again. She is a woman with a plan.

Chapter 8: Mystery solved 

The plane ride was even more awkward and uncomfortable for both Sydney and Irina than when they returned from Guatemala.

Sydney had tried to get her mother to open up, but Irina was withdrawn and she didn't dare to ask many questions. Mostly, Irina was ashamed, Sydney thought, and there was nothing she could do to get her mother to stop blaming herself for everything that had happened. She hoped once they found out why Irina had relapsed, she would be able to see past her guilt and move on.

Sydney knew her mother was no angel; she wasn't delusional, but she also knew the schizophrenia played a big part in her mother's past behaviour. Sydney surprised herself by her own willingness to share private details about her daughter and Vaughn.

"We're here," announced Irina as she parked in front of an old looking building across Moscow River, some five or six blocks from the Square.

The interior of the apartment contrasted with its outside appearance. It had been remodelled recently. Sydney was disappointed not to see any pictures of her and felt silly for thinking there would be.

"Nice," she commented. She could see St. Basil's Cathedrals onion spires from the living room window.

"Do you want something to drink?"

Sydney realised she'd never been in this kind of situation with her mother before. She suddenly felt awkward and out of place here in her mother's home. "Huh sure, water will be fine, thanks." Her mouth felt suddenly dryer than the Sahara desert. She was intimidated.

"I'll be right back," said Irina, after handing her a glass of bottled water.

"Have you been here recently?" Sydney asked, surprised to see the place was clean and neat.

"Yes, with Katya…before everything, I mean after Sovogda," Irina called out from the bathroom.

Sydney felt relieved her mother seemed at least as nervous as she was.

"Here they are."

Sydney took the bottle of pills from her mother and peered inside. "There's only a few left."

"Here is the refill." She gave Sydney a second bottle, this one full and sealed.

"Great, I'll send a sample of both bottles to Marshall. It will take more time than to have them analysed here but he'll be more thorough than anyone else."

"Good. We should go to the pharmacy before it closes. No need to take the car, it's only two blocks away."

"Okay." Sydney was pleased by her mother's initiative; she could see a small spark of interest in her eyes now, which was an improvement from the disinterested look she'd been given in Chawolo.

"Here." Irina handed her a gun and took one for her. "You never know."

They were the only two customers in the small pharmacy where Irina got her refills. The owner came to the counter from the back and broke into a sweat when he recognised her.

"Irina, it's been a long time, what can I do for you?"

She gave him a long, assessing glare. Sydney quietly observed the exchange; she too had noticed the man's nervousness. "Explain to me why you replaced my pills with placebo." Her voice was calm, controlled, and cold. She'd known Sydney was right the second she saw the man's face. He was petrified.

"I don't…I don't know what you're talking about, I haven't seen you in months!"

"Ziproxa," she said, slamming the almost empty bottle on the counter. "At least, it is supposed to be Ziproxa. In addition, it's not. We've known each other for years, why would you do that to me?"

"Irina, I'm sorry…"

"I had a relapse because my pills stopped working, because you replaced them with a placebo. You know what schizophrenia can do to a person. You know me, what I'm capable of doing. Imagine that multiplied by a thousand. The things I did…"

"Irina, please…"

In a blink, Irina was over the counter, backhanding the man twice in the face, forcing him into the backroom, out of sight from the street. Sydney swiftly locked the door and joined her mother.

"Tell my why."

"He threatened my family!"

"Someone told you to do that?" Irina's dark eyes snapped with fury.

"Yes, yes!"

"Who?"

"I don't know! He came in one night, before closing; he said he'd kill my wife and my children! I'm sorry, please, please don't hurt me, Irina."

"What did you put in the pills?" She wanted to know now, but she was glad Marshall Flinkman himself would analyse the pills.

"I don't know! He gave me pills that looked like the Ziproxa to put in the bottle…"

"How long?" Asked Sydney

"What?"

"How long have you been switching my meds?" Irina demanded shaking him.

"Just this time! I mean, just this medication! The first you came for was the real Ziproxa, but all the refills after that was the man's pills. He came back to give me more and threaten me every month! I'm sorry!" He was screaming and crying at the same time, convinced this was his last day on Earth. He knew Irina would find out what he'd done someday and come for retribution. He chose the lesser of two evils. He knew she wouldn't hurt his family while the bad man promised he would.

"Describe him!"

"I don't know! American! They all look the same!" He whimpered.

"Think harder! Was he old, young, what was he wearing…" Sydney prompted.

"Old, glasses, uh…costume…"

"That could be anybody," muttered Sydney.

Irina sharply turned to her, as if she'd forgotten her daughter was there. She lessened her hold on the pharmacist. "What did you think the first time you saw him?"

"What?"

"What was your first thought when you saw him?" She amended.

"Huh…rat…"

"Rat?" Irina was puzzled.

"Yes, yes, rat!"

Then Irina turned to her daughter, "Sydney, do you have a picture of Sloane on you?"

"What? No, I don't carry his picture around, Mom! Why, you think it was him?"

"Yes, but we need to be sure. He's dead, he can't do anymore damage but if it's not him…"

"Hold on." She phoned Marshall and asked him to send a picture of Sloane on her cell phone, which he promptly did.

Irina yanked the pharmacist's head by his hair so he could see Sydney's phone.

"Yes, it's him, it's him!"

Irina pushed him away from her, disgusted. "God…"

"Sloane…Too bad Dad blew him up, I would have enjoyed killing him again."

Irina thanked the pharmacist for at least telling the truth about her Ziproxa, She warned him never to tamper with prescriptions ever or she would keep Sloane's promise. She and Sydney left the store with a shaken, but relieved pharmacist.

"Again?" Irina asked Sydney, when they were outside.

"Long story. He shot Dad. I shot him and he died. He probably came back to life the way you did, and when I got back to the cave, it looked like there had been an explosion. When I left Dad, he had explosives on him, so I just assumed."

"Your father? Sydney, what exactly happened?"

"Katya really didn't tell you anything?"

"I only asked if you were alright; that's all I truly wanted to know."

"I see. Well, as I told you, Sloane shot Dad. I had to get to Hong Kong to stop the missiles and he was…" she cleared her throat, voice heavy with emotion. "…he was dying; there was nothing we could do. He told me I had to stop whoever was behind this. I left him there. Sloane was dead, but he fell in the pool, I guess the water in it regenerated his cells as it did yours. Dad probably went him to finish him off and died with him."

"So there is no way to bring him back." She didn't try to hide her sorrow at the idea of losing Jack forever. There was no need, Sydney would have seen through her lie.

"He and Sloane's bodies were disintegrated by the explosion he triggered. From what Katya told me, Rambaldi's little trick only revives a body's dead cells; it can't rebuild them from scratch. You were lucky your…body was in…good condition."

"I see. What do we do now?" She glanced at Sydney who had a troubled look on her face. "Sydney? Are you alright?"

"What? Oh…huh…yeah, fine."

"Could I…" Irina cleared her throat. "I'd love to see a picture of Isabelle if you have one on you."

"Oh, sure, yeah, here." Sydney grinned, handing it to her.

"My daughter has a daughter of her own! She's beautiful. I'm so proud of you, sweetheart."

Sydney smiled broadly. "She is..." They'd started to walk back to the apartment when Sydney suddenly stopped.

"Sydney? What's wrong?"

"I…I just wanted to say…despite what you did, what you'd planned…I was glad you were there with me, I…" She took a deep breath. "I'm glad you were there to help me when Isabelle came. I don't know what I would have done without you…I mean, Dad wasn't far, but my muscles were locked, and I was so scared, and doing it all wrong and something could have happened to her…"

"Sydney, Sydney, stop. I'm sure you would have done just fine if I hadn't been there. You're strong; you would have pulled through. And your father is a very capable man." Her eyes widened in realization of what she'd just said. "Was…a very capable man," she corrected, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Yeah. He was."

They didn't talk for the next few minutes, both lost in their memories of happier times with Jack, or so Irina thought. Sydney stopped them again, barely a block from Irina's apartment.

"Mom, I have to ask you something…"

"What is it?"

Sydney hesitated and finally blurted out, "would you come with me to Argentina?"

"Argentina? Why?"

TBC


	10. Chapter 9: The cave, take two

A WOMAN WITH A PLAN Eyghon 

**Summary:** Katya is not happy about her sister's death, something that should have never happened. She's going to make things right again. She is a woman with a plan.

Chapter 9: The cave, take two 

"What happened?" Irina asked as the plane Sydney and she was in started it's descent toward Ezeiza International Airport. The news of her younger daughter's death hit her hard. She'd been quiet the entire flight, ever since Sydney told her Nadia had been killed. She'd heard no more after that and was finally able to start thinking clearly again. Now she had questions.

"Sloane," said Sydney simply, watching as her mother grimaced in displeasure. 

Sydney couldn't know it, but in that instant, Irina hated herself. She should have told them, lifted Jack's doubts…now he was dead, and Nadia too. She should have spoken up, told them 'Jack is Nadia's father'. Everything would be different if she had. Nadia wouldn't be dead because she wouldn't have come near Sloane.

"What happened after Sovogda?" Irina hated being in the dark, but she should have asked Katya after she woke up from…being dead. Instead, she'd shut down and split as soon as she was strong enough to walk on her own. She'd been hiding from her demons in Chawolo ever since, until Sydney found her.

"It was hard, but eventually, she came out of her coma. I made the mistake of trusting him with her. It's my fault and I'll never forgive myself for letting him near her."

"Sydney…"

"It looked like they had a fight and she fell or he pushed her. It was in his house, there was a glass table...it shattered, slit her throat."

"God…" Moreover, in that moment, despite everything, Irina still couldn't bring herself to tell the truth, too ashamed she hadn't done so sooner.

"Mom, I didn't take you here just to show you her gravesite so you can grieve for her," confessed Sydney, earning herself a puzzled look from Irina. "I don't want to grieve for her anymore. I want her back. We can do to her what Katya and I did to you…"

"What? What did you say? You were there with her?" Irina looked pale.

"I…I left…before you came back. I'm sorry, I just couldn't…I didn't know what to do…"

"It's alright. I'm here now, and I'm grateful to you for…at least trying." After a few minutes of silence went by, she added, "Why is she…here, in Argentina?"

"Well…she didn't have any family for her whole life except her friends. LA was bad luck for her. I thought she'd be better here."

"She had you in LA."

"I didn't protect her. I failed her."

"I wasn't there, but Sydney you have nothing to feel guilty about!" Irina put her hand on her eldest daughter's arm.

"Come on Mom, I swore I would never trust Sloane again and…"

"And you didn't. It's nobody's fault, but Sloane's." Irina pushed the hair falling across Sydney's face behind her ear.

Sydney knew there was no point in arguing and she didn't want to make a scene on the plane.

"I'll just feel better when she comes back to us."

They went to the cemetery to visit Nadia's grave. Sydney left her mother alone after a few minutes, to give her time to say goodbye, just in case it didn't work. They then drove to the funeral home Sydney had picked to handle her sister's burial. Sydney was Nadia's next of kin on the burial certificate and as such had all power of decision upon her mortal remains.

She told the man in charge she'd decided to move Nadia's body to Los Angeles so she could be buried with her father. She almost choked on the lie but it was the most common cause of exhumation, which suited her since she didn't want to attract attention to her or the name Nadia Santos. It was bad enough that Nadia could never come back to her country since all her friends knew she was dead.

They took a flight back that evening with Nadia's casket in the baggage hold. Katya was waiting for them at LAX.

"Irina!" She hugged her sister fiercely before kissing her on both cheeks. "I was worried about you. Are you okay?" she asked, eyeing Sydney suspiciously.

"I'm fine. Thank you. For getting through to her. I know how stubborn she can be," she added with a smile.

"She reminds me of you actually."

"Will you two stop talking about me as if I wasn't there? Hi Katya." She kissed Katya on the cheek, surprising her aunt and mother, before climbing in the backseat of the sedan that would take them to Katya's private jet.

They flew directly to Mongolia and were glad to have each other. Katya knew if it failed her niece and sister wouldn't have the strength to support each other, too engulfed in their own grief...

"Everything is going to be fine," she told Sydney when she came back to her seat facing her niece and sister.

Sydney gave her a small smile. "I just hope there's…not too much damage. If we can't…if we can't bring her back, I don't know what I'll do. I didn't get enough time with her, she only saw Isabelle once, and…there's so much more I wanted to do with her, so much more for her to do…"

"It's okay. We'll bring her back; it worked for Irina, there's no reason it wouldn't work for her. She'll be alright." Her sister was in no shape to give Sydney a pep talk and actually needed one herself she could tell from Irina's closed off expression. She knew Irina saw the glass as half-empty and not half-full. That way, she could never be disappointed.

"I'm sorry, I'm so selfish, you barely got to exchange a few words with her," Sydney told her mother, "and she was your daughter!"

"Don't apologize to me for missing her sweetheart." A few minutes of silence went by, and then Irina squeezed Sydney's hand to get her attention. "Tell me, what kind of sister was she? Please, tell me."

Sydney smiled. "She was what I always wanted. Sweet, caring…like a best friend but better." She couldn't help but feel a flash of guilt for replacing Francie. "We'd talk about boys, work, fashion, movies…we weren't comfortable enough yet to get more personal, but we were pretty close. She was great."

Irina nodded and watched in a daze as they approached the runaway. Finally, they hit the ground and disembarked in Mongolia, land of promises for them on this day.

The tension grew as they neared the caves and the three of them were on edge by the time they had Nadia's casket down by the pool of water.

Katya stepped forward to open it, to Sydney and Irina's relief. They sobbed as they laid their eyes on Nadia's body, which, to their relief, was well preserved. She was dressed in a black dress with equally black high heels and was wearing earrings. Not just any earrings but those Irina had given Sydney, which both Katya and Irina recognised.

Sydney shrugged shyly, wondering how her mother would react. "I wanted her to have something of both of us. Those earrings meant so much to you and to me…"

Irina simply kissed her on both cheeks with a teary-eyed smile.

"Should we undress her?" Asked Katya after giving them some time do composed themselves for what was to come. "You were naked," she told Irina in way of explanation.

"No, Sloane was fully dressed when he fell in there," said Sydney, pointing to the pool of reddish water.

"Alright, are you ready to do this?" Katya asked them. When neither of them answered, she added, "I'm going to need help."

"I'll do it." Sydney stepped forward. It was painful for her to see and touch Nadia's body just as much as it was her mother's, but she had Irina's best interest at heart at the moment, not her own. No matter what, a mother should never have to feel what their dead child felt like.

The mortuary home had done a good job at sewing up Nadia's throat, or maybe it was the coroner, she didn't know, but neither could have put enough make up on her to make her forget the gaping hole she'd seen upon identifying her sister's body at the morgue.

Between the both of them, they gently deposited her in the reddish water and stepped back.

"Now what?" Asked Irina, not familiar with the process.

"We wait." Sydney looked over at Katya to confirm since she'd run away before Irina woke up.

"I don't know how long it takes exactly. I assume it depends on…how long the person was dead, and how she died. I just…turned around and your eyes were open. Sydney, you should stay close to Nadia, she'll be disoriented when she comes to. Don't you dare run away again, alright?"

"I won't. And I'm sorry I let you down before."

"It's okay. It took a lot of guts to come here in the first place."

Irina didn't seem to hear them, mesmerized by bloodstains on the wall and floor of the cave. "Jack," she said.

"Yeah."

"We could have…if he hadn't…"

"Blown him and Sloane up. I know." Sydney sighed. "I miss him."

"I miss him too," confessed Irina, more to herself than to anyone else.

The three of them sat side by side on nearby rocks, waiting for their daughter, sister, and niece to resuscitate from a mortal wound inflicted upon her weeks earlier.

Sydney was on her feet in a second as she heard the telling 'smack' she'd been praying to hear. Katya and Irina were right behind her, but when they looked at Nadia, they still saw a dead corpse.

TBC


	11. Chapter 10: Relief

A WOMAN WITH A PLAN Eyghon 

**Author's notes:** Many thanks to Lenafan for beta reading this story; what would I do without you?

**Summary:** Katya is not happy about her sister's death, something that should have never happened. She's going to make things right again. She is a woman with a plan.

Chapter 10: Relief 

After three excruciatingly long hours, Sydney, Katya, and Irina saw Nadia show the first signs of life. Her skin was slowly losing its bluish complexion, and soon after that, her fingers twitched. Sydney knelt beside her and called out softly, "Nadia? Nadia, can you hear me?"

With a soft groan, Nadia eventually managed to keep her eyes slightly open and looked in the direction of her sister.

"It's me, it's Sydney, and you're okay now." She thought she saw a faint glow of understanding in Nadia's eyes before she closed them again.

"She's groggy. She just needs more time," reassured Katya, gently squeezing Sydney's shoulder.

Another two hours passed before Nadia opened her eyes again, and Sydney was relieved to see her more focused. She took in her surroundings with wide eyes and her mouth opened, but no words came out.

"Is this normal?" Sydney asked Katya, worry etched all over her face.

"I suppose. She…passed away before Irina, so we should expect a slower recovery."

"How do we know when it's okay to get her out of…" Sydney almost jumped in fright when Nadia suddenly clasped her arm, hanging on for dear life. "Nadia! God! It's okay, everything's okay, you're alright, relax…" Her soothing words only aggravated Nadia further, and her frustration grew by the minute.

Sydney was puzzled as to what Nadia wanted to say so badly but Katya quickly filled her in. "She remembers," she whispered.

"Oh God!" Sydney was horrified for forgetting about that part and hurriedly reassured her sister. "I know, I know about Sloane, Nadia. It's okay, it's taken care of; he won't hurt you…ever again."

She gave a pleading look to Katya who nodded and they took her out of the pool to set her on a blanket spread on the ground. "Come here." Sydney gathered her in her arms and hugged her tightly. She smiled as she felt Nadia squeeze back though much more lightly from muscle weakness. "Look, Katya and Mom are here," she said nodding toward the two women standing aside.

Irina didn't need any more encouragement and stepped forward to gently embrace her younger daughter.

"Mom," was the first word Nadia croaked out, and brought tears to her mother's eyes. Irina carried Nadia out of the cave with Sydney and Katya in toe.

Nadia was feeling worlds better by the time they arrived at LAX. Sydney was going to take her sister to a hospital to have her checked out but this was goodbye for Irina.

"So, where are you going?" Asked Sydney, turning to face her mother.

"Back to Russia, with Katya."

"Good. That's good. Will we uh…see each other again?"

Irina took Sydney's hands in her own. "Nothing would make me happier." Irina gave Sydney a warm smile. "And you can call me anytime you want, alright?"

"Yeah, Katya gave me the number."

Irina nodded. "Can I…is it okay if…" She sighed, flustered. "I…"

Sydney stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her mother, relief flooding through her. She'd missed this. A loving embrace from her mother, without any malevolent intent or ulterior motives. "Goodbye, Mom."

"Goodbye sweetheart. I'll see you soon."

Sydney smiled and squeezed her sister's shoulder as she passed her. She hugged Katya and whispered in her ear, "Next time you need to tell me something, call me, or it could get ugly."

"I'll take that into consideration." 

They exchanged smiles and Sydney got into her car she'd left at the airport before her flight for Chawolo. She couldn't make out what Nadia and Irina were saying but she could tell the exchange was warm and teary-eyed for both parties.

Nadia joined her in the car a few minutes later and together they watched the jet take off again, with their mother and aunt on board. They waved and then left the airport.

Their stop at the hospital revealed nothing other than Nadia was in good health if not a little dehydrated and weak. The challenge would be to plan Nadia's return to civilisation, now that there was no APO and neither of them were part of any governmental agency. Bringing someone back from the dead was no easy task.

Vaughn had many questions, which Sydney promised to answer when they were alone. She made a mental note to call Eric the following week, once Nadia was settled in the apartment.

The following day, with Vaughn's help, Sydney had figured out what to do about Nadia's situation. She stifled her resentment and hate as she dialled Kendall's phone number. She could hear the smugness pour out of his mouth as he told her to come in with Nadia so they could discuss the best course of action and take care of paperwork.

That night, Nadia came home with a passport, driver's license, and birth certificate in the name of Nadia Bristow. Too many people knew Nadia Santos was dead and so dead she would stay. Kendall was doing Sydney a favour and his only condition was that Nadia was never to step foot in Argentina again. She would stay dead to her childhood friends and to her old employer, Argentinean intelligence.

Sydney had been afraid to tell her about the fact that they shared the same father but Nadia had welcomed the news with relief. Together they went to visit what was Jack's grave, although the coffin was empty. Ironically enough, it was placed right next to Laura Bristow's grave, as Jack had purchased both emplacements before he knew of his wife's treachery.

Nadia was thrilled with her newfound role of aunt and loved Isabelle as if she was her own daughter. Sydney was glad for the help and the company but she was worried about her sister. They'd never talked about what Sloane had done to her, about her experience with death or even about her coming back to life. Sydney felt it wasn't healthy to keep things bottled up inside and she feared Nadia might explode one day.

TBC


	12. Epilogue

A WOMAN WITH A PLAN Eyghon 

**Summary:** Katya is not happy about her sister's death, something that should have never happened. She's going to make things right again. She is a woman with a plan.

Epilogue 

Epilogue

Weiss was speechless when Sydney and Nadia came to pick him up from the airport. Actually, Sydney was afraid he'd pass out and quickly sat him down in her car with Nadia's help.

A few weeks later, he'd moved back to Los Angeles and was sharing his old apartment with Nadia, next door to the Vaughns. The wedding was for the following month, but Weiss already thought of them as 'the Vaughn family'. Sydney insisted on being called Sydney Bristow-Vaughn. 

Sydney and Irina talked on the phone from time to time, but they were taking things slow, sharing tidbits about their daily life. Nadia was thrilled to help plan the perfect wedding for her sister. 

A few weeks after their return from Chawolo, Sydney learned from her aunt that Irina and Nadia had been talking about their respective experience of dying and coming back to life. Both Sydney and Katya were glad.

Irina promised to be there for Sydney on her wedding day and she was. Katya was also invited but she stayed in the shadows with Irina as it was dangerous for both of them to be seen in the U.S., and many CIA agents were in attendance.

On the guest list appeared, among others, Kendall, Barnett, and the Flinkmans. The first two showed up together, to everyone's astonishment. Nadia was the Maid of Honor and Weiss was the Best Man. Isabelle was too small to be a flower girl, but Mitchell Flinkman was perfect in his role of the Ring Bearer.

Sloane was never mentioned again. Actually, the words 'Sloane' and 'Rambaldi' were taboo in the Bristow-Vaughn household. Nadia referred to her real father as 'Jack' on the few occasions she mentioned him. She could never bring herself to call anyone 'Dad' again, because the man she thought as such had committed the ultimate sin against her in his folly. She promised herself to be a good mother one day, and she knew already that Eric would make a wonderful father, one their children would be proud to call 'Dad' and one like she wished she'd had.

Sydney and Nadia travelled to Russia at least once a month to visit Irina and Katya. Sometimes they reunited in Los Angeles and they even spent a week in Thailand with Eric, Vaughn, and Isabelle.

A family reunion of sorts.

THE END


End file.
